Geraniums are easily propagated from softwood cuttings taken in spring, late summer or early autumn; best when there is a lull in blooming. Cut just above a stem node; this will encourage re-growth on the existing plant. Cut the new cutting again just below a node about 4 to 6 inches below the leafy end of the stem.
Strip all but the top leaves and place in warm, damp potting soil. Water thoroughly and place in a bright location but out of direct sunlight. Seeds can be sown indoors 10 weeks before last frost. Water lightly until seedlings appear and keep them in a warm location. Seedlings can be placed outside after all threat of frost has passed.
Your geraniums can be brought indoors for overwintering. Kevin Lee Jacobs, an award-winning food, garden and lifestyle guru who lives in New York's Hudson Valley, recommends cutting back geraniums drastically and pruning their roots before repotting and bringing indoors. Thrips, geranium budworm, spider mites, mealybugs, caterpillars, gray mold, and mildew may affect your geraniums.
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Flower Resources Discover the right flowers for your garden. Zonal geraniums are the colorful backbone of many summer gardens. Named for the zone of darker color on the leaf, which is very pronounced in some plants, but less visible in others. They have succulent stems with rounded, light to deep green leaves that are often variegated with darker colors and have a pungent smell.
Their flowers grow in clusters and can be single, semi-double, or double. Blooms come in shades of red, purple, pink, white, orange, and rarely yellow. Dig a good sized hole, big enough to easily accommodate the rootball. Add a layer of organic matter — such as compost or planting compost — to the base of the hole and fork it in.
Place the rootball in the planting hole and adjust the planting depth so that it is planted at the same depth as it was originally growing and the top of the rootball is level with the soil surface.
Mix in more organic matter with the excavated soil and fill in the planting hole. Water in well, apply a granular general feed over the soil around the tree and add a Flower borders and beds, patios, containers, city and courtyard gardens, cottage and informal gardens.
Although generally drought tolerant, pelargoniums growing in the ground may need a thorough watering once a week or so, especially during prolonged dry periods. In containers, water more regularly, especially in summer, to keep the compost evenly moist but not overly wet or waterlogged.
Do not allow the plants to sit in water. During late autumn and winter, water sparingly — plants may need less frequent watering depending on the temperature and growing conditions. Feed with a balanced liquid plant food every days in spring.
When flowers start to form, switch to a high potassium feed throughout summer and when plants are in flower. To keep plants flowering profusely, deadhead them regularly to remove the faded flowers, by tracing the flower stem to where it joins the main plant and carefully snapping it off.
Young pelargonium plants can be pinched back in spring or early summer to encourage branching and so produce more flowers. First, tidy them up by removing all dead, dying, damaged or diseased growth, and cut them back by around half - or more if necessary - to keep them compact. Then, pot them up in pots just big enough to accommodate their rootball and some extra potting compost around the outside. Then, put them in a cool greenhouse, conservatory or similar well-lit place.
Pelargoniums can also be overwintered in a frost-free shed or garage, providing they have become dormant and dropped all their leaves.
You can also overwinter plants as young cuttings, taken in late summer. If you leave it until autumn, the cuttings may not be large enough to come through the winter successfully. Especially when they are growing in pots, containers or hanging baskets. With limited soil space, the plants tend to grow outward as fast as they can. For this reason, it is important to pinch back stem growth to force growth that is more dense and thick. This can be done easily with a pair of scissors, garden pruners, or even with sharp fingernails.
Pinching back encourages the plant to grow multiple shoots from the pruned stems. Even more mature plants in mid-summer can benefit from a bit of pinching back. It results in a much bushier and healthier plant. And, a plant that can produce many more blooms and flowers. Once geranium blooms start to appear and flower, it is time to spring into action with deadheading. Regular deadheading taking off spent blooms , is critical to creating continual blooms for many annuals and perennials.
See : How To Deadhead Flowers. In fact, when it comes to geraniums, it the usually the single biggest factor in keeping plants from blooming strong all season. Without removing the old blooms and stems, the plant continues to burn valuable resources and energy on the failing flowers. Energy that is needs to be available to produce new blooms shoots and flowers. Be careful not only cut the flower head, but the entire bloom stem back to the base of the plant.
This stops the plant from using any energy on the old bloom and stem, and re-directs resources to growing new blooms. In addition to deadheading, always cut away any fading or damaged foliage from the plant as well. Just like with old blooms, plants use a tremendous amount of energy trying to heal damaged foliage. Although they are not tremendous feeders from the soil, geraniums can benefit greatly from a regular dose of all-purpose fertilizer.
Especially for those growing in containers and baskets where there is a limit to soil space and nutrient availability.
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